Overview
- Chad Bianco says a paused physical recount will now continue under a judge-appointed expert, with nearly 1,000 boxes of ballots still in custody.
- Bianco alleges a 45,800-vote gap between handwritten intake logs and totals reported to the state, which election officials say is closer to 100 and tied to clerical errors in manual logs.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the seizure unprecedented and warns it could sow doubt in elections, adding that sheriff’s staff lack the training to run a recount.
- Bianco, a Republican running for governor in California’s top-two primary, says the probe is unrelated to his campaign as Democrats worry a split field could advance two GOP candidates.
- The ballots come from a November 2025 special election that approved a congressional redistricting measure in Riverside County by more than 80,000 votes.